Pod Lights & Light Bar Inspiration

[JRD]

I’ve been looking into exterior lighting recently, and figured I’d see what you guys are currently running.

Let’s see those lights & your thoughts your set up, what you’d change or do differently.

 

[HSKR R/T]

New front bumper. Rough country pod lights in by ker. Spot in middle floor on outside. Cheaper Amazon 22" light bar

 

[HSKR R/T]

Rear bumper with DV8 Elite series flood light pods, @VICE design 7-pin adapter harness for backup lights, and a 2-pin Deutsch splitter I also bought from Vice designs to mAke these plug and play as aux reverse lights.

 

[boogielander]

The yellow ones are Baja Design LP6 Driving Combo. They are responsible for close to mid distances. They also have amber backlights that I use as DRL. Bracket is from Dark Dunes but it seem like they went belly up, but lucky for you Baja Designs have a kit that includes mounting brackets at the same location, and their mounting solution is a lot more sturdier.

The clear ones on the hood by A-pillar are Baja Design XL Racers Edition. They are responsible for long distances. Especially helpful when going through the desert at a fast pace. I had Baja Design Squadron Sports Wide Cornering at those location before and turned them at about 45 degree angle for ditch light, but I realized I need more frontal distance lighting than seeing the side after a few trips. The sides/ ditch will be addressed later.


Regarding light bar vs light pod, I've ran light bars on my previous rig and I elect to run pods on this one. I had a 40" BD S8 Spot on the roof and a KC 30" C-series Driving in the bumper on my 4runner before, and the only reason why I didn't with this is because I don't want light bars behind the grille. The mesh on the grille does block off some output. In addition, lower bumper mount (between the two sensors) is too low for light bar. Mounting at that spot shines up areas that you can't see from the driver seat, and forgoes the "mid" distance that you want. As well, that spot is way too easily blocked off by crests of the road, creating shadows in front of you. Alternatively, roof mounted is out of question as well, since there is no roof rack that doesn't require drilling for our trucks. If there's one, then light bar up top is a good choice.


That said, I still have my BD 40" bar sitting in the garage. Now that I have my GFC, I may end up putting it there. The only problem is, 40" is a bit too short for that location. In addition, I may swap out the fog lights to the BD S2 SAE Fog Light Set to help with rain/ foggy time vision. White is no good at penetrating rain and fog. To make it 100% road legal, it is recommend to use DOT approved pods. BD S2 SAE is created for that purpose so when you run them on pavement, you don't blind oncoming traffic. Only a handful of companies have lights that are DOT approved.


Here is my Squadron Sport with rock guard on. Any aux. lights are supposed to be covered when on public roadways unless they are behind the grille, or else it is a ticketable offense (per California Highway Patrol). Now, whether the particular officer enforces or not is up to the officer, but by law (at least in People's Republic of Commiefailnia) they need to be covered. I ran my 4Runner for 4 years with no cover and never had an issue, so are all of my friends. But there are always stories of people getting pulled over for them though. BD happens to manufacture their own covers for all of their lights, so that's a plus compared to replicas.
Some say covers are only required for lights above headlights, some say all. I'm not sure but I run cover on all of them.

For the rear, I only use a pair of Baja Designs S2 Wide Corner for chase lights, mounted up high. Many people on the forum elect to mount them under the rear bumper, but to be fair, for chase lights you want them as high as possible so they don't get blocked when going over a crest. These are safety items, and I take them very seriously and have turned away people who want to run with us because they have chase lights at the wrong location or no chase lights at all. You also want the brightest possible with amber lens, for dust penetration.
To make them easier to spot and to capture follow trucks' attention, I burst strobe them using Switch Pro 9100. Bursting strobe is more attention grabbing that just simple constant on. Again, these are for safety.


OE low beam and fog on

LP6 low beam (near and mid)

LP6 High beam (Low and mid and slight far)

XL Racers on only. These are pencil beams that are concentrated to go far instead of spreading. you can see the hot spot on the right.

Everything on, including chase and rock lights. From the hot spots you can see where majority of the beams are focused on for the front. This pattern is extremely useful and better for night time trail runs or driving in the middle of nowhere, as it makes you focus on what's ahead.

For me is Baja Design or bust simply because:
1. I believe in buy once cry once. I do these kind of installs as a professional and the last thing I want to do is to be messing around with my own truck after working on others' trucks the whole week because I went cheap.
2. I believe in race podium winning products and I don't do things just for the look or to win trophies. Everything I put serves a function and have been tested by professional race teams, and should be more than capable to handle my less abusive (and yet pretty abusive) usage. The last thing I want is to have lights that seize to work in the middle of the trail because of environmental exposure.
3. I believe R&D needs to be rewarded and supporting American companies employing American employees. Sure, good stuff are expensive, but saving up for the right ones makes it achievable.
4. If they're good to win Baja 1000, then they are plenty good for me. Plus, Baja Design categorizes their lights by lighting zones, which makes them the only company that does scientific research and illustration to help buyers understand what they need. With that reason, BD lights are useful bright that put the output where you need/ want them, not the typical replicas that just throw light everywhere to make them look "bright"

 

[JRD]

View attachment 179738
The yellow ones are Baja Design LP6 Driving Combo. They are responsible for close to mid distances. They also have amber backlights that I use as DRL. Bracket is from Dark Dunes but it seem like they went belly up, but lucky for you Baja Designs have a kit that includes mounting brackets at the same location, and their mounting solution is a lot more sturdier.

The clear ones on the hood by A-pillar are Baja Design XL Racers Edition. They are responsible for long distances. Especially helpful when going through the desert at a fast pace. I had Baja Design Squadron Sports Wide Cornering at those location before and turned them at about 45 degree angle for ditch light, but I realized I need more frontal distance lighting than seeing the side after a few trips. The sides/ ditch will be addressed later.

View attachment 179743
Regarding light bar vs light pod, I've ran light bars on my previous rig and I elect to run pods on this one. I had a 40" BD S8 Spot on the roof and a KC 30" C-series Driving in the bumper on my 4runner before, and the only reason why I didn't with this is because I don't want light bars behind the grille. The mesh on the grille does block off some output. In addition, lower bumper mount (between the two sensors) is too low for light bar. Mounting at that spot shines up areas that you can't see from the driver seat, and forgoes the "mid" distance that you want. As well, that spot is way too easily blocked off by crests of the road, creating shadows in front of you. Alternatively, roof mounted is out of question as well, since there is no roof rack that doesn't require drilling for our trucks. If there's one, then light bar up top is a good choice.

View attachment 179744
That said, I still have my BD 40" bar sitting in the garage. Now that I have my GFC, I may end up putting it there. The only problem is, 40" is a bit too short for that location. In addition, I may swap out the fog lights to the BD S2 SAE Fog Light Set to help with rain/ foggy time vision. White is no good at penetrating rain and fog. To make it 100% road legal, it is recommend to use DOT approved pods. BD S2 SAE is created for that purpose so when you run them on pavement, you don't blind oncoming traffic. Only a handful of companies have lights that are DOT approved.

View attachment 179745
Here is my Squadron Sport with rock guard on. Any aux. lights are supposed to be covered when on public roadways unless they are behind the grille, or else it is a ticketable offense (per California Highway Patrol). Now, whether the particular officer enforces or not is up to the officer, but by law (at least in People's Republic of Commiefailnia) they need to be covered. I ran my 4Runner for 4 years with no cover and never had an issue, so are all of my friends. But there are always stories of people getting pulled over for them though. BD happens to manufacture their own covers for all of their lights, so that's a plus compared to replicas.
Some say covers are only required for lights above headlights, some say all. I'm not sure but I run cover on all of them.
View attachment 179746
For the rear, I only use a pair of Baja Designs S2 Wide Corner for chase lights, mounted up high. Many people on the forum elect to mount them under the rear bumper, but to be fair, for chase lights you want them as high as possible so they don't get blocked when going over a crest. These are safety items, and I take them very seriously and have turned away people who want to run with us because they have chase lights at the wrong location or no chase lights at all. You also want the brightest possible with amber lens, for dust penetration.
To make them easier to spot and to capture follow trucks' attention, I burst strobe them using Switch Pro 9100. Bursting strobe is more attention grabbing that just simple constant on. Again, these are for safety.

View attachment 179747
OE low beam and fog on
View attachment 179748
LP6 low beam (near and mid)
View attachment 179749
LP6 High beam (Low and mid and slight far)
View attachment 179750
XL Racers on only. These are pencil beams that are concentrated to go far instead of spreading. you can see the hot spot on the right.
View attachment 179751
Everything on, including chase and rock lights. From the hot spots you can see where majority of the beams are focused on for the front. This pattern is extremely useful and better for night time trail runs or driving in the middle of nowhere, as it makes you focus on what's ahead.

For me is Baja Design or bust simply because:
1. I believe in buy once cry once. I do these kind of installs as a professional and the last thing I want to do is to be messing around with my own truck after working on others' trucks the whole week because I went cheap.
2. I believe in race podium winning products and I don't do things just for the look or to win trophies. Everything I put serves a function and have been tested by professional race teams, and should be more than capable to handle my less abusive (and yet pretty abusive) usage. The last thing I want is to have lights that seize to work in the middle of the trail because of environmental exposure.
3. I believe R&D needs to be rewarded and supporting American companies employing American employees. Sure, good stuff are expensive, but saving up for the right ones makes it achievable.
4. If they're good to win Baja 1000, then they are plenty good for me. Plus, Baja Design categorizes their lights by lighting zones, which makes them the only company that does scientific research and illustration to help buyers understand what they need. With that reason, BD lights are useful bright that put the output where you need/ want them, not the typical replicas that just throw light everywhere to make them look "bright"

Thanks for the write up boogie, I was checking out BD because I had seen their name thrown around a hunch I didn’t even realize they were American which I like. My son’s getting a little older now and I want to start taking him camping so that’s what got me into researching lighting. I wish I had some landscape like I see in your threads but there isn’t much of that here in the south unfortunately.

 

[boogielander]

Thanks for the write up boogie, I was checking out BD because I had seen their name thrown around a hunch I didn’t even realize they were American which I like. My son’s getting a little older now and I want to start taking him camping so that’s what got me into researching lighting. I wish I had some landscape like I see in your threads but there isn’t much of that here in the south unfortunately.

they are in San Diego, CA area. The switch panel (Switch Pro) is located in Colorado, if I remember correctly. the switch panel I have is also 7 years old and installed next to the engine, so 7 years of exposure to extreme heat daily, vibration, dust, mud and snow/ water when I crossed rivers on the trail all didn't do anything to it.

they are guarantee to last. the oldest BDs (the chase lights) i have are over 7 years old and I put park my rig outside, so they are exposed to direct sunlight, rain, dust, heat, vibration, etc. When i turn them on, they get abused with burst strobing, and they are on whenever i'm on dirt.
One of the squadrons I replaced took a thick tree branch impact at 60mph on the trail. Not even a crack on the plastic rock guard and not even a scratch on the light itself. The light took the impact and protected my windshield and A-pillar. The light functions normally after with no problem at all. I only replaced them because my friend wanted them and I wanted spot lights to see further ahead.

they are not just desert friendly, but also in the forest, in the swamp, even in industrial applications. Plenty of construction teams use their lights on heavy equipments for night time operations. Compared to other brands, BD's amber is the easiest on the eyes when driving imo (compared to KC or Diode Dynamics or even beijing designs - including those DV8s... ever since I found DV8 products on Aliexpress that company is dead to me - I've installed them all and went on night runs with friends/ customers with them post install) however, i need to tell you that Diode Dynamic's amber is better for campsite use than BD.

For your application, depending on the landscape you are in, I'd contact BD to see what they recommend you.